Introducing NFL Draft Dog's 2007 All-American Team. Before the season we did a pre-season team and it was interesting to see some of the same prospects remain on the post season list like: RB Darren McFadden, DTs Glenn Dorsey and Sedrick Ellis, linebackers James Laurinaitis, Dan Connor and Keith Rivers, offensive lineman Jake Long, Andre Smith and Michael Oher, and cornerback Antoine Cason. But what was interesting, was to watch the young prospects rise up and dominate the college football landscape. It seems our All American team has a load of talented sophomores on it. Look closely and you can see why we have started including some of these talented sophomores in our 2009 NFL Mock Draft. Some of my selections were quite simple, the players simply dominated their respective position, but some were very difficult as a couple players were neck and neck. One of the most difficult selections was at quarterback, Tim Tebow was every body's darling, but I gave the nod to Colt Brennan. Brennan had a better completion percentage than Tebow, 71.40 compared to 68.45 for Tebow. Brennan didn't lose a single football game and threw for an amazing 4,174 yards and 38 touchdowns. Besides, Tebow won the Heisman Trophy, so it wouldn't be fair to let him win everything. NFL Draft Dog's All American Team isn't quite on par with the Heisman, but we try.
The other difficult selection was at second team running back. Tulane RB Matt Forte almost got the award, he (Forte) rushed for 2,127 yards and 23 touchdowns, but the player that got my attention this year was Jamaal Charles, he (Charles) had a higher yards per carry average that Forte, 5.89 for Forte and 6.31 for Charles, but what really swayed my decision was the way Charles finished out the season, especially in the fourth quarter of games down the stretch. In his last four games of the season, Charles recorded 736 yards and 8 touchdowns, including a 290 yard performance against Nebraska.
Most of our other selections weren't that difficult. RB Kevin Smith from Central Florida was a no brainer, he was the nation's leading rusher and he ran for 2,448 yards and 29 touchdowns with a 188.31 yards per game average. He passed Marcus Allen in the record books and was only 180 yards behind Barry Sanders in rushing yards for a single season.
Wide Receiver Michael Crabtree was another lock. He led the nation in every receiving category by a large margin with 1,861 yards and 21 touchdowns. His closest receiving competitor was Kansas State's Jordy nelson, who had 11 touchdowns. Speaking of Nelson, he was one of my second team All-Americans. He was #2 in the nation in receiving finishing 2007 with 1,606 yards and 11 TDs. He managed a 133.83 yards per game average. Jordy Nelson abused NFL Prospect Kansas cornerback Aquib Talib when the Wildcats played Kansas. See the Video here.
Wide receiver Davone Bess from Hawaii was another wide out that caught my eye. Bess was instrumental in Hawaii's undefeated season and came up with big play after big play all season. Not real big, but Bess is blazing fast, runs precise routes and will catch anything thrown his way. He finished 2007 with 101 catches for 1,213 yards and 12 TDs. Yes he was in the run and shoot, but he has the skills to produce in any offensive system.
On defense, a few sophomores dominated their positions, the player that really stood out was South Florida's George Selvie. He led the nation almost the entire year in sacks, only to lose the sack title at the very end of the season to Indiana's Greg Middleton. Don't feel sorry for Selvie though, he led the nation in tackles for loss with an amazing 31.5 and finished second in sacks with 14.5.
Indiana's defensive end Greg Middleton had an incredible season, especially the second half, the super sophomore finished #1 in the nation with 16 sacks and he also recorded 17 tackles for loss. Defensive end Maurice Evans from Penn State was another sophomore that ended up on our All American team. Evans ranked 5th in the nation with 12.5 sacks and an impressive 21.5 tackles for a loss.
In the defensive secondary a player that I am surprised doesn't get more press is junior cornerback Joe Burnett from Central Florida. Opposing offenses knew Burnett was lurking back there and they tried to avoid him, but he still managed 6 interceptions and 12 passes defended. Also good against the run, Burnett recorded 54 solo tackles this season.
Safety Quintin Demps was a player that just couldn't be ignored. The senior Demps is a Sleeper for the 2008 NFL Draft. He finished 2007 with 5 interceptions, 72 tackles and 9 passes defended. But what was amazing is he returned two of those interceptions, 100 yards each, for touchdowns. Most players maybe have one 100 yard return in an entire career, but Demps had two in the same season.
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